Top 100 Tools for Learning Spring 2008
Summary Information
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies
www.C4LPT.co.uk
April 2008
Centre Sponsors
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Table of Contents
About the Top 100 Tools for Learning activity Top 100 Tools for Learning Spring 2008 A Core Toolset for Learning 2008 25 Tools: A Free Toolset for Learning 2008
2 3 11 13
About the Top 100 Tools for Learning activity
Between January and March 2008 the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies (C4LPT) invited learning professionals to share their Top 10 Tools for Learning – both for their own personal learning/productivity as well as for creating learning for others. 155 learning professionals contributed their Top 10 Tools. You can find the links to their individual Top 10 favourite Tools lists at www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/ In total over 460 different tools were named, but from these Top 10 Tools lists we compiled a list of the Top 100 Tools for Learning Spring 2008. 109 Tools were mentioned 3 or more times, and an additional 34 tools were mentioned twice. The list appears on pages 3-10 of this document and also online at www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/top100.html An Analysis of the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2008 list appears online at www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/analysis.html The tool links in these two lists take you to pages at the Centre’s website where you can find further information about each tool: • • • cost and availability information a summary of the tool the aggregated comments of the contributors who named this tool as one of their favourites.
We then categorised the Top 100 Tools list by type of tool – to create A Core Toolset for Learning 2008. This appears on pages 11-13 of this document and online at www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/toolbox2008.html We have also aggregated the top performing free tools to create 25 Tools: A Free Toolset for Learning 2008, and this resource is described on page 14 of this document and appears online at www.c4lpt.co.uk/25Tools/Tools/about.html We hope you find this Summary PDF as well as the online resources at the Centre useful. Jane Hart, Head of Centre www.C4LPT.co.uk and www.janehart.com
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 2
100 Top Tools for Learning Spring 2008
Key: H = Hosted; D = Download; C = Insert code Shaded rows are new tools on the list from 2007. Ranking 2008 2007 2 1 7= 3= 3= 6 5 7= 11 9
Tool del.icio.us Firefox Google Reader Skype Google Search Wordpress PowerPoint Gmail Audacity Blogger Google Docs Wikipedia Moodle Slideshare flickr iGoogle Ning twitter YouTube
Votes 65 54.5 48 43.5 40.5 39 34.5 31 30 30 29 27.5 26.5 23 22 22 21 21 21
Description del.icio.us Social bookmarking tool Firefox Web browser Google Reader RSS/Feed reader Skype Instant messaging, VoIP tool Google Search Web search tool Wordpress Blogging tool PowerPoint Presentation software GMail Web-based email Audacity Sound editor and recorder Blogger Blogging tool Google Docs Web-based documents Wikipedia Online encylopedia Moodle Course management system Slideshare Hosting/sharing presentations flickr Photo storage/sharing site iGoogle Personalised start page Ning Social networking tool twitter Microblogging and social network YouTube Video hosting/sharing site.
Cost Free Free Free Free Free Free £ Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free
Avail H D H D H H/D D H D H H H D/H H H H H H H
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9=
11 12 13 14 15=
14 26= 12= 31= 16 17=
17=
31= 43= 22=
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 3
Ranking 2008 2007 15 26= 22= 10
Tool Wikispaces SnagIt Articulate Word Bloglines VoiceThread iTunes Captivate Facebook PB Wiki
Votes 20 17 16 16 15 15 13.5 13 11 11
Description Wikispaces Wiki tool Snagit Screen capture tool Articulate Presenter/Engage/Quizmaker Word Word processing software Bloglines RSS/Feed reader VoiceThread Collaborative slideshows iTunes Music and podcast player Captivate Demo and scenario-based tool Facebook Social networking site PB Wiki Wiki tool Jing Record/share screen captures/casts Google Calendar Web-based calendar MindManager Mind mapping tool Outlook Email software Pageflakes Start page Camtasia Studio Screencasting tool Flash Animation authoring tool Zoho Suite Online office suite LinkedIn Social network TypePad Blogging tool
Cost Free/£ Free/£ £ £ Free Free/£ Free £ Free Free/£
Avail H D D D H H D D H H
20 21 22=
24=
12= 101=
26 27 28=
26= 17= 17= 43=
30 31=
-
Jing Google Calendar MindManager Outlook Pageflakes Camtasia Studio Flash Zoho LinkedIn TypePad
10.5
Free
D/H
36= 17= 17= 101=
10 10 10 10 9.5 9 9 8 8
Free £ £ Free £ £ Free Free/£ £
H D D H D D H H H
35 36=
50= 43= 57=
38=
31= 57=
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 4
Ranking 2008 2007 36= 31= 101=
Tool Google Maps OpenOffice SecondLife Dreamweaver Edublogs Google Alerts Netvibes Wetpaint Excel Google Earth iPod Nvu Adobe Connect Blogs/Blogging diigo eXe FreeMind Garageband Google Apps Internet Explorer Keynote
Votes 7.5 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 5.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Description Google Maps Maps of the US. UK, etc OpenOffice Office software suite Second Life Virtual world application Dreamweaver Web authoring tool edublogs Blogging tool for educators Google Alerts Keep track of new information Netvibes Personal start page Wetpaint Wiki tool Excel Spreadsheet software Google Earth Geographic information iPod MP3 player Nvu Web authoring tool Adobe Connect Web meeting/conferencing Blogging tools Of all types diigo Social bookmarking eXe SCORM content authoring Freemind Mind mapping tool Garageband Personal recording studio Google Apps Communication/collaboration Internet Explorer Web browser Keynote Presentation software
Cost Free Free Free £ Free Free Free Free £ Free £ Free £ Free/£ Free Free Free Free £ Free £
Avail H D H D H H H H D D D H H/D H D D D H D D
40 41=
43=
26= 72= 57= 26= -
48=
22= 40= 43= -
52=
72= 72= 72= 50= 101= 31= 72=
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 5
Ranking 2008 2007 -
Tool Paint.NET Stumbleupon Thunderbird Adobe Photoshop Basecamp
Votes 5 5 4.5 4
Description Paint.NET Image and photo editing Stumbleupon Social bookmarking tool Thunderbird Email client Photoshop Photo/Image editing tools Basecamp Collaborative, project management tool Elluminate Web meeting/conferencing Google Scholar Search for scholarly literature LAMP Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl Notepad HTML and text editor OneNote Personal Information Manager Opera/Opera mini Web browser Scribd Document hosting and sharing site Ustream Live, interactive broadcasting Wink Software demonstration tool Yugma Web meeting/conferencing Adobe Reader PDF Reader Blackboard Course management system TeacherTube Instructional video sharing site Bubbl.us Mind mapping tool ClassTools Create Flash-based learning
Cost Free Free Free £
Avail D H D D
52=
63 64=
22= 50=
-
4
Free/£
H
50= 36= 72= 50= 72=
Elluminate Google Scholar Linux/LAMP Notepad OneNote Opera Scribd Ustream Wink Yugma Adobe Reader Blackboard TeacherTube Bubbl.us ClassTools
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3.5 3.5 3.5 3 3
Free/£ Free Free Free £ Free Free Free Free Free/£ Free £ Free Free Free
H H D D D D H H D D D D H D D
76=
72= 101= 57=
79=
101= -
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 6
Ranking 2008 2007 101= 101= 72= 101= 72= 43= 72= 50= 101= 36= 101= -
Tool Comic Life CourseLab CutePDF Writer Drupal eSnips Filezilla Furl Gcast GIMP Gliffy Google Analytics Google Notebook Google Sites iMovie Lectora LibraryThing MediaWiki Mozy Polldaddy Remember the Milk RSS
Votes 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Description Comic Life Create comics from photos CourseLab Course authoring tool Cute PDF Writer PDF Conversion tool Drupal/DrupalEd Content management system eSnips Upload and share files Filezilla FTP client Furl Social bookmarking tool Gcast Podcasting service GIMP Image/photo editing tool Gliffy Diagramming tool Google Analytics Website analysis tool Google Notebook Personal online notebook Google Sites/Jotspot Wiki tool iMovie Video editing software Lectora Course authoring tools LibrayThing Library catalogue/book club MediaWiki Wiki tool Mozy Online backup tool Polldaddy Polling and survey tool Remember the Milk Manage your tasks RSS Really Simple Syndication
Cost £ Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free £ £ Free Free £ Free Free Free
Avail D D D D H D H H D D C H H D D H D H H/C H -
79=
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 7
Ranking 2008 2007 72= -
Tool Safari Skitch SMART interactive whiteboard Survey Monkey Tiddlywiki Yahoo Mail Zamzar Zotero
Votes 3 3
Description Safari Web browser Skitch Screen capture tool SMART Board Interactive whiteboard tools Survey Monkey Survey and questionnaire tool TiddlyWiki Personal wiki tool Yahoo Mail Web-based email Zamzar Online file conversion tool Zotero Firefox add-on to support research
Cost Free Free
Avail D D
79=
-
3
Free
D
72= 57= 72=
3 3 3 3 3
Free Free Free Free Free
H D H H D
110-143
Ranking 2008 2007 72= Tool Adobe Acrobat Professional Adobe Presenter Blogbridge Cmap digg FeedBlitz Feedburner FolderShare 101= Gabcast Votes Description Adobe Acrobat Professional Create and control PDF documents Adobe Presenter Narrated presentations Blogbridge RSS reader Cmap Concept mapping tool Digg Social bookmarking and rating FeedBlitz Feed to email service Feedburner RSS service FolderShare Share folders Gabcast Phone in your podcast Cost Avail
110=
2
£
D
72= 72= 101= -
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
£ Free Free/£ Free Free Free Free Free
D D D H H H H H
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 8
Ranking 2008 2007 40= 57= 101= 101= 101= 72= 72= 72= 57= -
Tool Geogebra Google Desktop Google Page Creator iChat iPhoto Joomla Jott Meebo MindMeister Notepad++ OmniFocus OmniGraffle OmniOutliner ooVoo Paint Shop Pro Picasa Portable apps Quicksilver
Votes 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Description Geogebra Mathematics software Google Desktop Computer search/organiser Google Page Creator Simple web page authoring tool iChat Instant messaging for the Mac iPhoto Photo management tool Joomla! Content management system Jott Voice to text Meebo Instant messaging tool MindMeister Mind mapping tool Notepad++ Text and HTML editor OmniFocus Task management tool OmniGraffle Diagramming tool OmniOutliner Keep track of projects ooVoo Video chat and conferencing Paint Shop Pro Image editing tool Picasa Picture editing tool Portable apps Suite of apps for a USB stick Quicksilver Interface to work with PC apps on Mac Scratch Visual programming environment/ toolkit to create animated stories Sony Vegas Video Video production tool
Cost Free Free Free Free £ Free Free Free Free/£ Free £ £ £ Free £ Free Free
Avail D D H D D D H H D D D D D D/H D D D
110=
72=
2
£
D
-
Scratch Sony Vegas Video
2
Free
D/H
-
2
£
D
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 9
Ranking 2008 2007 50=
Tool ToonDoo Trillian tumblr Ubuntu WebEx Wikis Windows LiveWriter Yahoo Groups
Votes 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Description ToonDoo Create/share comic strips Trillian IM Aggregator tumblr Micro-blogging platform Ubuntu Linux-based operating system WebEx Web conferencing system Wikis Of all types Windows LiveWriter Desktop blogging tool Yahoo Groups Community tool
Cost Free Free Free Free £ Free Free Free
Avail H H H D H D/H D H
110=
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 10
A Core Toolset for Learning 2008
The following table offers a core toolset of tools derived from the Top 100 Tools for Learning Spring 2008 list.
• •
Links in the 25 key FREE Tools column go to tool activities in the 25 Tools: Free Toolset for Learning section at the Centre’s website. (For more information, see page 13) Links in the other columns go to tool descriptions in the Top Tools for Learning section at the Centre’s website. 25 key FREE tools Firefox Commercial tools Outlook -
Type Web browsers and extensions Players and other readers Email Tools Instant messaging/ voice call tool Social bookmarking RSS readers Microblogging tools Productivity Tools (online) Productivity Tools (desktop) (Re)search Tools Office suites (doc, pres and s/s tools) Document hosting tool PDF tools Mindmapping Tools Personal start pages Blogging Tools
Other Free Tools Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari | Zotero iTunes | Adobe Reader
gMail/ Google Mai Skype Delicious
Thunderbird | Yahoo Mail diigo | Stumbleupon | Furl
Google Reader Bloglines Twitter -
Google Calendar Google Maps | Google Alerts | Google Notebook | Remember the Milk | Zamzar | eSnips | LibraryThing Google Earth | Filezilla Google Search | Wikipedia | Google Scholar Zoho | OpenOffice Google Docs Scribd CutePDF Writer Freemind iGoogle Wordpress Bubbl.us Pageflakes | Netvibes Blogger | Edublogs
Mozy
OneNote
Word | PowerPoint Excel | Keynote MindManager TypePad
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 11
Web Authoring Tools Text editors Website analysis tools Wiki Tools Photo hosting tool Flickr Other photo tools Presentation hosting tools Video hosting tools YouTube Other video tools Collaborative tools Podcasting Tools Screen capture and screencasting tools Graphic and imaging tools Polling /Survey tools Interactivity and animation tools Web Meeting/ Conferencing Tools Live broadcast tools Ustream Virtual world Tools Social networking Tools Social networks Course authoring tools Course/Learning Management systems Content management Systems eXe Voicethread Audacity Slideshare PBwiki Nvu
Notepad Google Analytics
Dreamweaver -
Wikispaces | Wetpaint | Google Sites | MediaWiki Tiddlywiki Comic Life TeacherTube Basecamp Gcast Skitch | Wink Adobe Photoshop iMovie Garageband SnagIt | Camtasia Studio | Captivate -
Jing Paint.NET | GIMP | Gliffy Survey Monkey PollDaddy
ClassTools | SMART interactive Flash whiteboard Elluminate SecondLife Adobe Connect | Elluminate Lectora | Articulate Blackboard
Yugma
Ning Facebook | LinkedIn CourseLab Moodle Drupal
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 12
25 Tools: A Free Toolset for Learning 2008
This resource is intended for those working in education, workplace learning or professional development who want to broaden their horizons in terms of the wide range of technologies and tools available for learning and performance support - in a very practical way by getting to grips with a core set of 25 tools taken from the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2008. The tools are a mix of personal productivity tools for managing your own personal learning as well as authoring tools for creating all kinds of learning and performance solutions. Many of them are Web 2.0 tools that promote a social, collaborative, sharing approach to learning. But what is more important is that all these tools are FREE, which makes them very suitable for those on a low (or non-existent) budget to explore the widening e-learning space - and also ideal for a recession. How to use this resource Behind each of the 25 Tools lies an Activity that comprises a number of short tasks to help you find out more about the technology behind each tool, the tool itself and why it is so popular, how to use the tool and reflect on its application for teaching, learning and for productivity and performance support. Many of the tool activities are inter-related, so you will also be using other tools for some tasks. The tools are listed (on page 14) in 8 different categories. Each tool description also shows whether it is available to download and install on your own computer (D) or as a hosted service (H) or both [D/H]. There is also a Community where you can share your thoughts, experiences and resources as well as get help and advice from other members. More information about the Programme is at www.c4lpt.co.uk/25Tools/Tools/about.html
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 13
The 25 Tools
A
1
The bare essentials These are the basic tools you need to have Web browser Firefox More than just a browser with 100s of extensions available to provide an enormous range of extra functionality not found with other browsers. [D] No more worrying about an email client on your desktop and dealing with spam and viruses - and tons of free storage space. [H] An easy way of not only text messaging your contacts but also free voice calls - with low charges out to landlines. [D]
2
Email tool
gMail/ Google Mail Skype
3
Instant messenger
B
4
Keep yourself up-to-date These tools will help you keep up to date with what people are doing and what's happening in the e-learning world Social bookmarking tool RSS reader Microblogging tool Delicious Store your bookmarks online, tag them and share them with others, students, colleagues and so on. [D/H]
5 6
Google Reader Subscribe to website and blog feeds and the news is delivered automatically to you. Effortless! [H] Twitter If you want to stay in touch with people no matter where you are or what you’re doing. [H]
C
7 8
Manage your own productivity Here are a variety of tools to help you with your day-to-day working and learning life Online calendar Office suite Google Calendar Don't keep your calendar to yourself, share it and make scheduling events an easier process. [H]
Google Docs An online suite of office tools for personal use or to collaborate with other. It can read in Microsoft Office documents too. [H] Freemind iGoogle For organising your thoughts or just brainstorming. [D] Aggregate all your resources, mail, RSS feeds, etc, in one place. [H]
9 10
Mind mapping tool Start page tool
D
11 12 13
Get an online presence You won't necessarily need to set up all three; but here are 3 ways to get a web presence Blogging tool Web authoring tool Wiki tool Wordpress Nvu PBwiki Use it to create a personal or professional use . [H] A versatile web authoring to build web pages and web sites. [D] Create editable websites for collaborative writing and working. [H]
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 14
E
14
Share content with others Make use of existing engaging content by using these three tools. You can use them to host and share your own content too. Photo hosting tool Presentation hosting tool Video hosting tool Flickr Host your personal or professional picture collection, and share them with friends, colleagues and others. [H] Upload presentations, tag them and share them with others. Synchronise them with an audio file to create a narrated presentation. [H] A large collection of shareable videos - host your own there tool. [H]
Slideshare
15 16
YouTube
F
17
Build content and share it with others These tools will help you create additional content and share it with others online. Collaborative presentation tool Podcasting tool Screen capture/ casting tool Polling and survey tool Voicethread Create a slideshow around images and invite comments (audio or text) from others. [H] Record and edit audio and, with the extra encoder, convert your audio files into MP3 podcasts/ [D] An “always-ready” program that instantly captures and shares images and video. [D/H] Want to get some quick feedback? Set up a poll, and track responses. [H]
18 19 20
Audacity Jing PollDaddy
G
21
Bring people together For live broadcasts or meetings or for socialising, these 3 tools are key Web conferencing tool Live broadcasting tool Social networking tool Yugma For small meetings of up to 10 people, to whiteboard, annotate and share files. You can even use Skype. [D] Live interactive video broadcasting to a global audience. All it takes is a camera and an internet connection. [H] Create and customise a private community for a group of like-minded people, large or small. [H]
22
Ustream
23
Ning
H
24
Develop and manage courses If you want to create and manage formal learning content (courses, programmes etc), then these tools are useful. Course authoring tool Course management tool eXe Create SCORM-compliant learning content that doesn't require you to be proficient in HTML or XML markup. [D] Host a complete course or program or simply provide user authentication for other training materials. [D or H]
25
Moodle
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies , www.c4lpt.co.uk, 2008 15